


In Dreams

by Poedhamerons



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Aragorn/Arwen Parallels, M/M, Parallels, Pining, Post-Battle of Five Armies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-17 21:31:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3544499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poedhamerons/pseuds/Poedhamerons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo found that slipping into a dream was oh, so much easier than it had been before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Dreams

The sun was setting slowly over the horizon, casting streaks of golden light across the rolling hills of the Shire. Bilbo Baggins leaned his head back against the bark of the great oak behind him, a lazy smile spreading across his face as he stared up at the glow which filtered through the gently swaying leaves. His pipe and book lay forgotten at his side, and the faraway laughter from the pub on the edge of town soothed him, a gentle reminder that he was not alone—not anymore.

Bilbo tugged at his clothes absently, his eyes closing almost of their own accord while the warm afternoon breeze brushed through his curls like a lover’s hand, and Bilbo found that slipping into a dream was oh,  _so_  much easier than it had been before.

He opened his eyes to the same scene before him, of rolling hills and little rivers, though he felt the soft press of a body at his side, quiet and dark and not yet fully formed. Bilbo kept his eyes closed and said nothing at first, waiting, waiting, waiting.

“You came back.”

“This is a dream,” Bilbo replied softly, and the other figure let out a quiet sound at that, and Bilbo found himself closing his eyes to preserve _this_ moment before it faded from memory, even as a calloused hand pressed gently against his chin, turning Bilbo to face him.

“Open your eyes,” the words were careful, hushed, and Bilbo did as he was told, his heart wrenching in two as he saw Thorin Oakenshield beside him, staring into his eyes like it was Bilbo who was lost. “If this is a dream, then it is a  _good_ dream.”

The tears slipped unbidden from Bilbo’s eyes as he stared back, and he smiled in spite of himself as Thorin’s hand moved to the back of his head, carefully tugging Bilbo forward so that their foreheads pressed against each other.

“Thorin, you  _died_ —”

“Hush,  _ghivashel_ ,” the words were a rush against Bilbo’s face, and he let out a choked sound, squeezing his eyes shut again even though all he wanted to do was drink in the sight of  _his_  lost king. Thorin’s careful thumb brushed his tears away. “Perhaps you took a piece of me home with you.”

“I would have preferred to take all of you home,” Bilbo opened his eyes to blink up at him, his words like a secret, and Thorin’s gaze was full of such an achingly sweet sadness that Bilbo had to look away lest he begin to  _hope_.

“And I would have followed you to the ends of Arda if I could,” Thorin smiled, and oh, but that made this all so much harder. “I would have done much to stay with you, Bilbo Baggins.”

And Bilbo almost asked it. He almost screamed the words, ‘ _then why didn’t you_ ’ to the Heavens and the Valar alike, but he did not. The words were already there, an unspoken anchor pulling them down, down, down into the ocean’s briny depths, and Bilbo chose to suck in a sharp breath rather than say what was truly on his mind. “Will you stay now? Here, with me, in this dream?”

“I would stay with you in every dream,” Thorin replied, and Bilbo found himself glancing away to recover himself because it just wasn’t  _fair_ , why couldn’t he have had this  _before_?

“Thorin—”

“You planted the acorn,” Thorin cut in, and Bilbo blinked in surprise but nodded wearily, his smile tired with the years that had passed.

“It has grown much faster than I would have thought. Perhaps there is magic in growing things after all.”

“Perhaps there is,” Thorin hummed, and he smiled broadly, as if this were the defining moment in his life. “Or perhaps it is simply you,  _amrâlimé_. I doubt any other could summon me from the halls of Mandos at a mere wish.”

“None else would dare,” Bilbo smiled, and Thorin laughed, a loud and happy laugh that made him pull away for a moment, his hand falling to Bilbo’s shoulder as he ducked his head before returning and pressing his forehead even harder against Bilbo’s, as if in a farewell.

“You said you would stay,” Bilbo couldn’t help the reproach in his voice, and Thorin couldn’t help the sadness that drew his face into a twisted smile.

“And I will—but not today. I will wait for you here,  _ghivashel_ ,  _azyûngal_ , Bilbo. I would wait for you until the unmaking of the world.”

“You can’t just  _say_ things like that,” Bilbo stuttered, because his heart was breaking again, and he thought he felt Thorin fading from his grasp.

“I will say them until they are untrue,” the dwarf replied, and that was it, wasn’t it? That was what had Bilbo’s fingers clenched in the grass, his knuckles a stark white where they sat. Bilbo looked up into Thorin’s eyes, and he paused, hesitant as he pulled his fingers from the earth and moved them, shaking, to cup Thorin’s cheeks.

“And I will repeat them until you stop saying them, because I have known you in life and I have known you in death, Thorin Oakenshield, and oh, how I love you still.”

And Bilbo kissed him, this ghostly apparition, this dwarf king, this love of his until he felt no warmth on his lips save for the cool night breeze that brushed through his curls like a lover’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> _But in dreams_   
>  _I can hear your name_   
>  _But in dreams_   
>  _We will meet again_
> 
> _When the seas and mountains fall_  
>  _And we come to end of days_  
>  _In the dark I hear a call_  
>  _Calling me there_  
>  _I will go there_  
>  _And back again_
> 
> Posted by request from awkwardteenagerchick on tumblr and inspired by an anonymous prompt sent to thorinshieldings  
> Find me at dragonslaeyr.tumblr.com!


End file.
